The Envelope Please...Wait, Never Mind

If you have a child over the age of 17, you know that we are about to enter College Season, the time of year when kids suddenly take an unusual interest in the delivery of mail and its contents. It's not that they've suddenly become philatelists (stamp collectors), but rather because they're nervously checking for college acceptance letters, as oppposed to college rejection letters.

For those of you with younger kids, no kids or no interest in or memory of the college application process, it begins in September of their senior year when parents and college advisors start nagging the kids to finish their applications. Then, after many people have written letters and sent in transcripts on the kids' behalf, the waiting game commences. Finally, spring arrives and with it comes the mail. The commonly held belief is that if it's good news, it's a large envelope. If it's bad news, it's a small business-size envelope.

For about 100 high school students, they were given a very pleasant and very misleading surprise this past week. They received, mistakenly, acceptance letters from The University of Georgia. What they were supposed to receive, were letters from the university thanking them for their applications. Huge difference.

If you've ever lived through this experience for yourself or with your child, you know that the process is nerve-wracking, stressful, agonizing and sometimes heartbreaking. No matter how hard you or your child says it doesn't matter, it usually does. Somewhere in a college admissions office, there are people determining your worth to their university. In most cases, it's like the world's longest blind date, but with references.

So here are these 100 kids, some of whom wanted nothing more in life than acceptance to The University of Georgia, only to be told "Oops, you're the victim of a clerical error." Although some of them will eventually get accepted by Georgia, some will not and that will be a very bitter pill to swallow. In fact, Georgia has a very sought-after scholarship program and the typical student accepted has a 3.8 grade point average. There will likely be many kids swallowing this bitter pill.

As a parent, it's hard to say what would be the best way to counsel your child if he or she had received such a letter. Some will try outrage, perhaps calling lawyers into the mix. Others might laugh at the irony of the situation and hope for the best. And others still might use it as evidence that there's no such thing as a sure thing...even when it arrives in a big envelope.